The End of the Line
by xJanzx
Summary: The aftermath of the revelation that Jack is Amy's dad. This was written before the actual EE episode, so some details may not correlate with things in the episode


**The End of the Line**

Ronnie stood on the freezing sidewalk, her mind reeling as she tried to absorb the words that had just come out of her sister's mouth. "They both know." She felt herself sway a little, but she just wrapped her arms around herself, that much tighter. But not because of the cold, she couldn't even feel that anymore. No, she had just to keep herself from falling apart. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

She heard herself laugh, the mirthless sound ringing out in the empty Square. "Ron," Jack whispered, just looking at her helplessly, his fists still gripping the front of Sean's clothes.

"Ronnie, please," Roxy called out to her.

"Not here," she said, looking away from both of them and slipping through the red double doors of the Vic. She stalked over to the bar, banging glasses as she poured generous amounts of vodka into one and necked it.

"Ronnie!" Peggy chastised, about to say something else, but she was cut off by her niece.

"Not now, Aunty Peg!"

"Ronnie, please!" Roxy exclaimed, as she too, burst into the pub followed by Jack.

"You keep saying that," her sister replied monotonously, pouring herself another drink and gulping it down.

"What?" Her little sister asked. She had no idea what to say or do. All she could see was the hurt written all over Ronnie's face, the pain that she had caused. _Why?! Why did I do it?!_ That one thought hurtled around her brain, but she couldn't find an answer.

"'Ronnie please!'" She mimicked Roxy. "Ronnie please _what_?"

Peggy looked from one sister to the other, unnerved by Ronnie's silence and Roxy's desperation. She could always count on them to shout and scrap when they argued, rip each other's hair out even, but this . . . this was different. Even the air between them seemed to still with ice.

"Just say something, talk to me," Roxy pleaded, viciously wiping away the tears that trickled down her cheeks.

Ronnie looked her solidly in the eyes, her own glassy with anger. "When?"

"What?"

"Ron-" Jack interjected.

"I'm **talking** to _her_!" She screamed. "When did you sleep with him?" Roxy just shook her head, silently begging her sister not to ask these questions, to not make her answer them. "It's not difficult Roxanne, just subtract ten months from now!" She slammed the glass tumbler down on the bar top, making her sister jump. "When did you sleep with her, Jack?" Her voice was cold and void of all emotion.

"What?" Peggy breathed, completely shell shocked. "Jack?!"

"Yeah, Aunty Peg – he's the dad. Didn't you know? Nah, neither did I!" Ronnie turned her attention to Jack once again.

"Ronnie, I'm sorry," he started, walking up to the bar and trying to take her hand, but she flinched and snatched it away.

"Spare me," she spat at him. "Were we together?" Jack looked away from her, hanging his head. Ronnie just laughed, the same mirthless one that seemed to rip out of her. "This just keeps getting better, doesn't it?"

"No – Roxy what have you done?" Peggy exclaimed, her mouth still open from the shock of what she'd heard.

"Ron, Ronnie, Ronnie please!"

"STOP SAYING THAT!" Ronnie screamed at her little sister, no longer able to hold everything in, her fury and hurt spilling from her with every breath she took. Her body shook with the force of her anger, but still she tried to rein it in.

"What's goin' on down here?" Phil asked as he came through to the bar area, followed by Archie.

"You hate me, don't you?" Roxy whispered, her voice thick with tears. "I'm sorry, Ronnie, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. Please don't hate me, please don't Ronnie. I can't have you hate me, I'm your baby sister. Please Ronnie, please." She rushed behind the bar and to her sister's side, grabbing both her arms and forcing Ronnie to look at her. "Please, Ronnie. You can't hate me, please don't hate me. Just-please, just forgive me Ronnie, please. I'll do anything, please Ron – don't hate me like Dad, I can't stand it if we're like that, please Ronnie. Please. I need you Ron, _Amy_ needs you, she needs her aunty."

Roxy's words just seemed to wash over her, the emotion lost in the gulf between the two women. But something snapped when Ronnie heard her daughter's name.

"You called her 'Amy'." Her body went rigid against her sister's touch and she quickly pulled herself away. "You named your baby after mine. How could you _do_ that – knowing there was a chance she could be his? How could you do that to her memory? You _used_ her!" Her words were quiet and soft, but every one of them felt like a knife of ice into Roxy's veins.

"No, Ronnie, it wasn't like that!"

"You _used_ my dead daughter to try and qualm your guilt-"

"No, no – that's not what it was. Ronnie, please – we promised we wouldn't let a bloke get between us, not Damien, not Sean, not Jack, nobody. Please Ronnie, we're us – the Mitchell Sisters. I'm your baby sister."

Ronnie slowly shook her head. "Not anymore." She turned away, but Roxy caught her hand once more, making her face her again.

"Ronnie!"

"You're like a poison and every time I'm there to pick up the pieces and dry the tears and clear up your messes, something in me dies. I can't keep doing it, so I'm done. I love you Roxy, that hasn't changed," Ronnie took hold of her sister's jaw and held onto it tightly "but every time I look at you, all I can see is what you did and if you love someone you'd never do that. Jack, I can understand – he doesn't love me, he doesn't give a crap, but you – _you_ are my **sister**! And that's what makes it unforgivable."

She let go of Roxy and wrenched her hand from her sister's vice like grip before turning her back on Roxy for the final time and heading for the double doors of the pub.

"Ronnie!" Roxy shouted, her sobs wracking her body and making it shudder. "Please, we can work this out. I promise I'll be better! Please Ronnie. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please, just stay. We need to talk, we can work this out! Ronnie! I need you, Ron!"

But Ronnie didn't listen. She didn't stay. She just left.

**THE END**


End file.
